1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention generally pertains to vehicle-mounted cargo carriers and more particularly to one that can be mounted to the hitch receiver of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
To rig a vehicle for pulling a trailer, the vehicle can be provided with a standard hitch receiver into which a drawbar can be inserted and pinned in place. The drawbar includes a hitch ball upon which a ball-receiving coupler of the trailer can be set, thereby coupling the trailer to the vehicle. Although hitch receivers can be of almost any imaginable shape and size, they are typically a square tube with a 1.25-inch or 2-inch square opening that can receive a similar sized square shank of a drawbar.
Hitch receivers can also be used for supporting an outboard cargo carrier as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,813,584; 5,038,983; 6,513,690 and 6,712,248. In these examples, various brackets are used for coupling the cargo carrier to a hitch receiver. Such brackets, however, might not connect to different size receivers without significant modification or replacement of certain parts.
One bracket, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,604,658, is perhaps the most versatile in that the bracket can be reversed to fit either a 1.25-inch or 2-inch receiver. With that design, however, a different set of mounting hardware is used depending on which end of the bracket is inserted into the receiver. Bushings (16) of the '658 patent, for instance, are used with a 2-inch receiver but not a 1.25-inch receiver. If the unused bushings are misplaced while the bracket is inserted in a 1.25-inch receiver, it might be difficult to later switch over to a 2-inch receiver. Or, if the bracket is only used with a 1.25-inch receiver, the bushings can add unnecessary cost to the unit. Moreover, fastener (50) and pin (54) of the '658 patent are relied upon as actual weight-bearing members rather than used for just holding the other more structural members of the unit together.
Consequently, a need exists for a simple, robust cargo carrier that can be readily supported by different size receivers.